Themes and Messages

Main themes: 

• The American Dream

• Love and Marriage

• Social class

• Wealth

• Materialism 

Life lessons: 

• Money can solve many problems, but not the most important ones in life:

In the novel, money and wealth are represented as powerful forces that can provide comfort, status, and access to certain pleasures in life. However, despite its ability to solve superficial or material problems, money cannot address deeper and more meaningful things, such as true love, happiness, identity, and interpersonal relationships.

• Be enough without anyone or anything around you:   

 If Gatsby had felt like he was enough, he wouldn’t have searched his whole life for the approval of others. 

• Search for true connections: 

Even though Gatsby’s parties were the most popular, and everyone wanted to be invited, he died alone, apart from his only friend, Nick. There’s no point in living a life fueled with people who, when it really matters don’t care about you. 

• Love can be destructive: 

Gatsby's love for Daisy consumes him, leading him to make reckless decisions and ultimately resulting in his downfall. The novel highlights the dangers of becoming too obsessed with a person and losing oneself in the process. It is a cautionary tale about the destructive nature of unrequited love and the importance of maintaining one's sense of self. 

• Don’t Judge The People Around You:

There’s a lot of judgment in this story: about family wealth and social status, relationships, etc. From the very opening line, Nick says what his father always told him, “'Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,' he told me, 'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'”

Daisy appears to be shallow and unaware of her surroundings, only for her to utter the line about her child, “I hope she'll be a fool. That's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” It’s a reminder that judging others by their appearance or social status only leads to deception and does not, in any way, reflect who they really are.